Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Just opened at the MAXXI (Museum for the XXI century arts-Rome), Holland and Italy, curated by Gabriele Mastrigli.10 works of architecture, 5 Dutch firms VS (not really VS) 5 Italian firms made up of people who worked in HollandAn exhibition about Dutch architecture where the Italian component "works as a reactor, as the critic counterpart".The participants are coupled on the base of 5 different topics:Home: Power House Company (NL) VS Beniamino Servino (IT)Pavilion: Atelier Kempe Thill (NL) VS GruppoA12 (IT)Context: Baukuh (NL) VS Onix (IT)Infrastructure: NL Architects (NL) VS Ian+ (IT)City: Crimson (NL) VS Dogma (IT)

Friday, May 18, 2007

May 24: opening for the 3rd Rotterdam Architecture Biennale.I know i promised not to talk or read of architecture until my holidays will finish in August, but it seems i am unable to do so...I am actually thinking to book my flight back to Italy with a little detour to the Dutch reign...:) Architectural syndrome [gulp!]

It must be because i am aging....but i had a sort of shock in reading that they are actually thinking to tear the Capsule Tower down!!I have studied this building for my history of modern architecture back in 2002: i mean, if a building is on a history of architecture book, it must mean something!!Plus i like it!They are thinking to tear it down because it contains asbestos. Now i completely understand the environmental and health issues, but....Can we do something about it!?Any other solutions?Btw, this would be already the second building by Kurokawa to be torn down.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

David Fisher's dynamic skyscraper is the last news coming from the far Dubai, source of surprises almost every day.The skyscraper works around a central concrete core and each floor can revolve (with the wind's help) independently from the others. Fully rotations of 360 degrees for always different shapes of the tower.Teh central core would be the only component built on site, while the floors' units would come as prefab elements, to install on site.The motion combination and energy can power the entire building: it could actually power 10 buildings of the same size.Any air sickness?

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

The Triangle park is a small piece of green at the intersection of Rush and State, downtown Chicago.Yesterday i found out funny stuff about this tiny sidewalk, located in a very touristic area of the city. First of all it is also known as the Viagra Triangle, because it seems to be the fave spot for old men to 'approach' young women.But the most popular 'rumor' about the Triangle right now is divorce attorney Corri Fetman's billboard: LIFE IS SHORT. GET A DIVORCE.Perfect place for such an advertisement! I thought it was pretty funny! :)Not so the Goldcoast neighborhood, which pushed the city to remove the billboard, because it is racy and not so politically correct!The job was done today.. "Life, it appears, isn't the only thing that's short" titles the Chicago Tribune.